Debates of Dec. 7th, 1995

Department Of Natural Resources

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, through access to information I received an audit from April 1994 that revealed the practice of hiring family members at Natural Resources Canada.

In one forestry office alone, the auditors counted 115 people in one year who got their jobs from relatives on the inside of the department. That was last year. This year a new audit says that there is still a major problem that the minister has yet to address.

Will the minister initiate a department-wide audit of contracting in her department to uncover the real extent of the family compact at NRCan, or will she at least get a family member to look into it?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, let me first point out to the hon. member that the audit to which he refers is an audit of contracting practices that took place during fiscal year 1992-93, before this government came to power.

Let me indicate further that it was this government that undertook an audit in relation to contracting and management practices in the Department of Natural Resources. We determined that those problems existed. We have taken corrective measures in relation to them.

An audit done in June 1995 indicates that we have corrected the mistakes of the past. We have put in place management practices and courses in relation to conflict of interest. I might say to the hon. member that to the satisfaction of the auditors involved we have been successful in dealing with the practices that were identified as unacceptable.

[Chuck Strahl, Reform, Fraser Valley East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to think that most of the relatives were already hired, but this year's audit also says that bypassing merit to hire family members has become an accepted way of doing business in the department.

It is not acceptable, which is why I asked for the list of contracts the department had investigated so that we could have a look to see how deep this mess was within the department.

Incredibly we find the department did not keep such a list or now it cannot find it. Will the minister undertake to find this list of contracts and table it in the House so we can see whether the problem of nepotism extends to her department?

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Minister of Natural Resources]

Mr. Speaker, I can assure the hon. member that corrective action has been taken.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Prove it.

[Anne McLellan, Liberal, Edmonton Northwest, AB]

I am quite happy to prove it to the hon. member. I have a list of measures we have taken in my department to correct the situation. I will be happy to share it with the hon. member.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the study commissioned by the CBC on the coverage of the referendum campaign reveals that the French network gave essentially the same coverage to the yes and the no sides, whereas the English network gave almost two thirds of its time to the no side. Yet, the study concludes that both the French and English networks were neutral in their coverage.

Does the Minister of Canadian Heritage agree with the conclusion that CBC's English network was neutral in its coverage of the referendum campaign?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I do not draw conclusions on studies I have not yet seen. The CBC's board of directors asked for some reports. I am told that these reports were submitted to the board. I still have not received them. I will comment after seeing them.

[Gilles Duceppe, Bloc, Laurier—Sainte-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister does not want to make a pronouncement. However, given that today's newspapers mention that the French network gave 52 per cent of its time coverage to the yes side and 48 per cent to the no side, while the English network gave 62 per cent of its time coverage to the no side and 38 per cent to the yes side, could the minister make some enlightening comments on these figures?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the CBC's board of directors intends to follow up on the report. Again, I am reluctant to comment on figures taken from a newspaper article. I want to get much more information on the CBC's coverage and on the exact nature of the report.

Toronto

[Barry Campbell, Liberal, St. Paul's, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the greater Toronto area is home to 4.5 million people. The area has been disproportionately impacted by the recession and continues to lag in the recovery, with negative repercussions for the entire Canadian economy.

The Government of Canada spends millions and millions of dollars in the GTA often in ways people do not see directly. My question is for the Minister responsible for the infrastructure program. Will he tell the House how that one program is contributing to economic recovery in the greater Toronto area?

[Art Eggleton, Liberal, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for Infrastructure]

Mr. Speaker, in answering the question I am pleased to note in the gallery opposite a holder of an office that I had the pleasure of holding at one time. I am pleased to note and welcome the mayor of Toronto, Her Worship Barbara Hall, to the House.

In the greater Toronto area we have approved over 300 infrastructure projects involving an infusion of some $850 million, which has created in excess of 11,000 jobs in that area. With the co-operation of Mayor Hall and the Toronto City Council many of these projects have been in the downtown Toronto area.

All these projects, just like all projects across the country, have helped to put Canadians back to work, have helped to strengthen the infrastructure in our communities and to bring in additional investment dollars. They have all been done in a co-operative way, which proves that the federal, provincial and local governments can work together for the improvement of the quality of life of Canadians.

Government Appointments

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Canadian Heritage recently made a number of appointments to the board of directors of the Museum of Civilization.

Is he aware that one of the appointments is a senior partner of the lawyer who was responsible for the election campaign of the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs? Yes or no.

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, appointments are made as a result of a very careful scrutiny of the ability of people to exercise office. This is what was done in that case, as with any other appointments in my portfolio.

[Jim Abbott, Reform, Kootenay East, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I may have missed the answer. I was looking for a yes or no. The point is the scrutiny seems to include Liberal credentials because the Liberals continue the old-fashioned discredited practice of feeding their friends lucrative government posts. In so doing they denigrate our public institutions.

Let me remind the minister that the appearance of conflict of interest is against the current code of conduct of public office holders. My question is simple. Did he know this appointment was against the conflict of interest code?

[Michel Dupuy, Liberal, Minister of Canadian Heritage]

Mr. Speaker, these appointments are scrutinized from that viewpoint as well.

As to the notion that Liberals have no capability to fill any office, the member should remember that the president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is Perrin Beatty who did not sit with the Liberals in the previous Parliament.

Coast Guard

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Transport.

At a meeting of the of the Société de développement du Saint-Laurent on November 23, the commissioner of the Coast Guard refused to rule out the possibility that the cost of icebreaking would be charged directly to the users of the St. Lawrence, which would mean that Quebec shipowners would have to bear nearly half of all the new costs charged to shipowners for Coast Guard services.

How does the minister explain his government's contemplating making Quebec shipowners pay the cost of icebreaking on the St. Lawrence, when this service is free in the North?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, I know that the hon. member follows the activities of the Coast Guard very closely and he is no doubt aware that it now comes under the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans.

However, I wish to assure my hon. colleague that the costs that will be recovered in all transport sectors are not going to be limited to those who own ships in the St. Lawrence. Most of the ships plying the St. Lawrence do not belong to Quebecers, nor to Canadians, for that matter.

That said, we will be ensuring that, in all sectors, costs incurred will be recovered from users.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the minister is forcing me to point out that the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans was not present in the House, and that is why I asked him-

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh.

[The Speaker]

I would ask the hon. member to put his question.

[Michel Guimond, Bloc, Beauport—Montmorency—Orléans, QC]

Mr. Speaker, does the minister, being responsible for marine transportation, realize that, by charging shipowners using the St. Lawrence the cost of icebreaking, he is threatening the competitiveness of the St. Lawrence ports, and particularly the port of Montreal?

[Douglas Young, Liberal, Minister of Transport]

Mr. Speaker, when the hon. member asked his question, he said clearly that the person in question, the one who made the statement, did not want to rule out the possibility that all costs would be recovered for icebreaking operations in the St. Lawrence.

In the coming days, we will announce the future policy and strategy for the entire marine sector. At that point, we will certainly have an opportunity to properly discuss a question of potential concern to everyone. User costs will be discussed and debated.

I would reassure the hon. member and the people directly affected that no final decision has been made on this yet.

Penitentiaries

[Ted White, Reform, North Vancouver, BC]

Mr. Speaker, members of the House might be surprised to learn that presently there is no effective way to prevent prisoners from harassing their victims from inside their jail cells.

One Vancouver jailbird has been leaving up to 16 messages a day on his victim's answering machine as well as sending letters from the prison even though the court has told him not to.

I am sure there will be an outpouring of sympathy from the Minister of Justice, but the Canadian people would like to know what he will do to stop this harassment and when he will do it.

[Herb Gray, Liberal, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons and Solicitor General of Canada]

Mr. Speaker, new policies are being put in place with respect to access to telephones by prisoners in federal institutions. Work is ongoing with respect to mailing privileges as well.

Would the hon. member, since he did not give me notice of the question, confirm that the prisoner in question is in fact in a federal institution?